THE REELING
BAD GUYS YOU LOVE TO HATE SPECIAL
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER - DEVIL'S ADVOCATE
101 DALMATIANS - THE WIZARD OF OZ
THE RETURN OF THE JEDI - MOMMIE DEAREST
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER - THE USUAL SUSPECTS
DIE HARD - THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
SCHINDLER'S LIST - TRUE ROMANCE - LONE STAR
AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY

The bad guy has been a staple character for movies almost
since the birth of motion pictures. From the ruthless robbers in the
1903 landmark film, "The Great Train Robbery," to Richard Widmark's
wheelchair tossing baddie in 1947's "Kiss of Death" to the 90's Dr.
Evil, villains are important to the action and drama genres - and comedies,
too.

Of course, the Bad Guy is not always a guy. In the 50's things like
communist domination, science gone beserk and monsters unleashed were
the foes the good guys had to battle. But, guys make the best Bad
Guys (with some notable female exceptions) and one of the favorites,
the Devil, has always kept a prominent place on the movie villain
roster.

Robin
The Devil And Daniel Webster:
One of my favorite portrayals of the Prince of Darkness is by the
great Walter Huston as the wickedly mischievous Mr. Scratch in the
wonderful 1941 fantasy film, "The Devil and Daniel Webster."

Laura
Devil's Advocate:
...and that film has local note, too, with its mention of Medford
rum. One of my favorite portrayals of Satan comes from an actor who
also played the sympathetic Donnie Brasoe in the same year, Al Pacino
as the biggest bad guy of them all in "Devil's Advocate"

Robin
101 Dalmatians:
Bad Guys don't just show up in live action flicks, either. Disney
had their own demonic villain with James Woods' providing the voice
of the sharp tongued Hades in 1997's "Hercules."

In 1961, Walt Disney Studios set a new standard for bad guys everywhere
with the wicked and whacko villainess, Cruella de Vil, in "One Hundred
and One Dalmations."

Laura
The Wizard Of Oz:
Cruella's the worst of all, in my opinion - stealing puppies to make
a fur coat! Another wicked female villain for the ages is an icon
of American film culture - Margaret Hamilton created a timeless ultimate
Bad Guy as the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz."

Robin
The Return Of The Jedi:
In the 70's, the war in Vietnam was the ultimate Bad Guy for many
of us and kept our attention for years. By that decade's end, the
time was ripe for a return to fantasy adventure and George Lucas thrilled
millions with his "Star Wars" series, spawning another pop culture
Bad Guy icon with Darth Vader.

Laura
Mommie Dearest:
While Darth was indeed a nasty dad, in 1981, Faye Dunaway went out
on a career-impacting limb with her portrayal of Joan Crawford in
"Mommie Dearest." She gets notable Bad Guy status with this scene
that's become a camp classic.

Robin
The Night Of The Hunter:
Another monster in people's clothing and one of the best of the monstrous
Bad Guys is played by Robert Mitchum as an evil, godless minister
in the 1955 film, "The Night of the Hunter."

Laura
The Usual Suspects:
...and sometimes the villain may not even be real. Verbal Kint, played
by Oscar winning Kevin Spacey spins the terrifying tale of Keyser
Soze for a police detective in "The Usual Suspects."

Robin
Die Hard:
In 1988, the action genre was stagnant and it was time to redefine
the action/adventure/hero flick and director John McTiernan and Bruce
Willis took on the task with "Die Hard." In doing so, they also reinvented
the Bad Guy with the appearance of Alan Rickman as Eurotrash villain,
Hans Gruber.

Laura
The Silence Of The Lambs: ...although the "Die Hard" sequels were less compelling,
mainly because they'd lost Rickman!

One of the creepiest, but most compelling, Bad Guys to grace the
screen has to be Anthony Hopkins as the droll cannibal, Hannibal Lecter
in Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs."

Robin
Schindler's List:
Steven Spielberg won Oscars and other kudos for his depiction of personal
valor and human dignity in 1993 with "Schindler's List." He also showed
a kind of organized serial killing, personified with cold-hearted
cruelty by Ralph Fiennes as concentration camp commandant Amon Goeth.

Laura
True Romance:
British actor Gary Oldman's become typecast as bad guys in such films
as "Air Force One" and "Lost in Space." I'm hoping his evil turns
in upcoming films like "The Contender" and "Hannibal" show him in
the type of form he displayed as the addicted narc detective in 1994's
"Leon, aka "The Professional" and Tony Scott's 1993 film, "True Romance."

Robin
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery:
Bad Guys show up in all kinds of films, not just drama, westerns or
actioners. Spoofing Bond, a series which has largely worked depending
on the quality of the installment's bad guy, Mike Myers created comic
genius with Dr. Evil in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Laura
Lone Star:
Westerns gave us the bad guy symbol of the black hat. Lee Marvin was
meaner than a rattlesnake in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence." Kris
Kristofferson gives us a modern update as Sheriff Charley Wade in
the John Sayles film, "Lone Star."